HESS' FOUR GOALS LEAD RAMS TO DOMINATING 6-2 WIN OVER HOFSTRA

Sep 28, 2012

THE BASICS:

Final Score: VCU 6, Hofstra 2

Location: Cary Street Field, Richmond, Va.

Highlights: Ariale Hess scored four goals to lead the Rams to a dominating 6-2 win over former CAA foe, Hofstra. It was the first time since 2004 that a VCU player scored four goals in a game (Carlot Verloop, four goals vs. Longwood on 9/12/04). Senior Kelsey Scherrer added two goals and two assists in the victory.

The Rams midfield and backline were the stars early on as they controlled possession, while the forwards gained their stride. Hofstra was held without a shot for the first 27 minutes of the contest.

Scherrer got VCU on the board in the 17th minute when she dribbled through the Hofstra defense, just inside the top of the circle and blasted home her eighth goal of the season.

Scherrer struck again just three minutes later, this time she lended a helping hand as she drew the defense to the right side of the circle and fed her classmate, Hess, who deposited her first goal of the game into the left side of the cage.

Six minutes later, Hess and junior Kelsey Powell connected on a beautiful give-and-go with Hess finishing into the left corner off a great feed from Powell.

Hofstra would slowly start to turn the momentum with six shots in the final eight minutes of the first half, concluding with a goal off an extended corner when Melissa McCarthy tipped in a shot from Micaela Gallagher with time expired to send the teams into halftime with VCU leading 3-1.

The Pride kept the pressure on VCU with multiple chances early in the second half and finally made it a one-goal game when McCarthy struck again in the 53rd minute.

The Scherrer-Hess combination connected again in the 62nd minute when Hess redirected a shot from Scherrer to give VCU a two-goal cushion.

Mother nature played tricks on the Rams as a 34-minute lightning delay was called with 4:05 remaining, halting play and sending both teams to the locker rooms.

Apparently, the delay didn't affect the Black & Gold as junior Emilie Soares send a long pass downfield to a speeding Hess, who got on a one-on-one breakaway against Hofstra's keeper, deposting her fourth goal of the game into the left side of the cage.

An extended corner would finish off the second half as well, this time it was VCU taking advantage of it with Scherrer rocketing home her second goal off assists from Chelsea Hill and Steph DeMasi.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

VCU's 8-1 record is the best record in school history through the first nine games of the season.

The four goals by Arialle Hess is the most by a VCU player since Carlot Verloop scored four in a 11-1 home win over Longwood on Sept. 12, 2004. The single-game record for goals in a game belongs to Alycia Yoder, who scored five in a 9-0 home win over Louisville on Oct. 8, 1992.

Scherrer's two assist on the day move her into a three-way tie for the third-most assists in VCU history with 21. She is now tied with Alycia Yoder and Celly Chamberlin. She's just three off the record of 24, currently held by Stephanie Whitlow (1991-94).

DeMasi's 18 career assists are now tied for seventh on the all-time list.

Scherrer's 24 points on the year is already equaled to the 15th-highest single-season total in school history. Averaging over 2.5 points per game, Scherrer is on pace for 48 points, which would establish a new single-season record. The current record is 44, held by Carlot Verloop in 2004.

QUOTABLES:

Head Coach Shannon Karl

"We spent all week talking about finishing and fighting to put the ball in the goal, today our team was able to do that."

"Having that 30-minute break due to inclement weather could have been a disadvantage for us. As a staff, we're proud of the fact that we came out for the remaining 4:05 and continued to work to finish, scoring two goals. It shows a lot of character"

Senior Arialle Hess

"All those goals came from the hard work of our back line and our midfield. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

COMING UP

The Rams travel to second-ranked North Carolina on Sunday afternoon. Game time in Chapel Hill is set for 1 p.m.